'Pedaling' a movie the hard way

One man is traveling through Connecticut to peddle his independent film on pedal power.

William Roulston is biking through Connecticut this summer and fall from his home in Stamford, with his journey taking him to Eastford, Chaplin and Hampton in September with more local stops possible.

But this is no ordinary bike ride.

Roulston is also bringing with him 200 pounds of film equipment: projector, screen and sound system, hauled behind him on a bicycle trailer.

Calling it “the greenest movie tour ever,” Roulston’s goal is to screen the movie he wrote and produced.

“DreamRiders” is actually a documentary of his own experiences as a divorced father while embarking on a cross-country bike ride with his teenaged son, Nicolas, to rebuild their relationship – even though neither had been on an overnight bike ride before.

The documentary was aired on the Travel Channel on Father’s Day and made the film festival circuit, winning “Best Documentary” at the New Strand Film Festival.

A Facebook page devoted to the film has brought the family more fans and the soundtrack is available through iTunes.

Roulston, though, still wanted a theatrical release.

As an independent, first-time filmmaker, he didn’t exactly have a production studio budget behind him, so he went another route.

Door-to-door promo

He is biking his film across Connecticut, bringing it to local town halls, church fellowship halls, fire department banquet rooms and granges.

Roulston wanted to bring it to non-traditional venues to better connect with the audiences.

The money raised by screening it at local halls will help the Roulstons organize a wider theater release.

“We have a pretty unique film and we wanted to do something unique to get people to see it,” Roulston said. “We don’t have millions of dollars to advertise, but we do have a compelling film with raving fans. Cycling from town to town will enable us to talk to people about it along the way and create a very special event in places where films and their producers are not often seen in the same room.

“I’m very fortunate to have found a really good story to tell. I’m grateful to see the impact it’s having on people.”

Nicolas Roulston said people respond positively to the film because it mirrors their own struggles. “It’s such an honest account of the human experience,” he said.

“We can all relate to someone taking big chances to achieve their dreams and all the triumphs and tragedies they face in trying to overcome the barriers that keep people separated.

“Every family has strain on their relationships, especially during the teenage years. But there’s a lot of humor in the film, because men just aren’t very smooth at dealing with relationships. It’s pretty funny, looking at it from this vantage point. It wasn’t so funny at the time.”

Coming to Eastford Sept. 18

The Tour de Connecticut, as the Roulstons call it, began in Sherman on Aug. 17 and is scheduled to end in Ridgefield on Sept. 30.

The Roulstons hope to stop at several towns in eastern Connecticut, but have not yet confirmed dates and locations for many municipalities.

Confirmed stops include Eastford’s Camp Nahaco Sept. 18; Hampton’s Community Center Sept. 19; Chaplin’s Fire Station Sept. 20; and Bozrah’s Fire Station Sept. 27.

Ticket prices and times are yet to be determined.

The Roulstons hope residents or town officials will contact them will possible venues for Andover, Franklin, Pomfret, Scotland, Sprague, Stafford, Union, Voluntown and Woodstock.

To carry out the environmental theme of biking the film across the state, William Roulston will offer a free movie ticket to anyone who joins him in biking from one town to the next. And he will offer discounted tickets to anyone who bikes to the movie from their home.

For more information on the film, the schedule, or to offer a venue to screen the film, visit the Roulstons’ web site at www.dreamridersmovie.com.

State won’t dump its incinerated trash in Franklin

Map credit: Eastern Connecticut Environmental Review Team Report, March 2009.

The people of Franklin haven’t entirely relaxed, but there is some relief among those who were opposed to plans that would have created a dump for the state’s incinerated garbage on land neighboring the former Franklin Mushroom Farm on Route 32.

Those plans are on hold, indefinitely. And not just for Franklin, but for the entire state of Connecticut.

First Selectman Richard Matters said he first heard about the Connecticut Resources Recovery Authority’s decision from State Rep. Edith Prague.

Sen. Prague has been opposed to the project from the beginning and tried unsuccessfully last year to pass legislation that would bar the CRRA from siting the landfill in Franklin – and give municipalities more of a say in this kind of decision.

“I got a call from Sen. Prague on Friday,” Matters said.

Still, Matters said he is feeling cautious about the CRRA’s announcement.

“Their decision is to ‘suspend’ the project and look at other alternatives, so that doesn’t rule out Franklin,” he said Monday.

The CRRA had planned to create an ash landfill on 100-150 acres within a parcel of about 350 acres, which crossed over into Windham to the Shetucket River.

The landfill was proposed to operate for 30 years and accept about 300,000 tons of ash annually. The ash would be delivered to the site 5 days a week, hauled in by about 60 trucks per day.

Not surprised

The town has spent about $30,000 over the last year and half, on various studies of the project’s potential impact on the environment and traffic, as well as for the services of the town’s legal counsel, a consultant and the town engineer to review data.

“Our position, from the beginning, has been to carefully review these studies so that we could make an informed decision before taking action,” Matters said.

He added that it’s not surprising, at this point, that CRRA has backed off from the project.

“You have the governor and the attorney general saying they’re opposed to it – so I think that would sway them to at least look at other properties,” he said.

One of the big questions surrounding this project has been whether the CRRA would go through Franklin’s local permitting process. Since it is a quasi-state agency, it could claim exemption.

And because the property is zoned for residential use, that would have required changing the town’s zoning in order to allow for a commercial development.

Looking at options

In an Aug. 27 press release , the CRRA said it was following “directives” from state leaders: “Based on its understanding of the directives received from state leaders, CRRA will suspend its efforts to develop an ash landfill in the state of Connecticut indefinitely and … immediately focus on consideration of environmentally sound options for long-term disposal of ash residue from its resource recovery facilities, including disposal at other in-state and out-of-state landfills and other options that the CRRA finds beneficial.”

Among the options the CRRA will now consider:

• Exploring privately-owned landfills

• Developing the CRRA’s own out-of-state landfill

• Exploring low- or no-impact ways of recycling the ash, such as creating “bricks” (if approved by the State Department of Environmental Protection.)

In its press release, the CRRA said the impact of coming up with another site or other alternatives will be felt by cities and towns in the form of higher “tipping fees” for disposing of waste.

If the landfill had been sited in Franklin, according to the CRRA the town would have received as least $1.5 million in fees. State law requires the CRRA to pay at least $5 per ton.

For now, CRRA will continue to use a Wheelabrator Technologies-operated ash landfill in Putnam; the CRRA has a three-year deal with Wheelabrator.

The Putnam facility, however, is expected to reach capacity by June 2018.

A welcome decision

Across the Franklin border, Windham officials were happy with CRRA’s announcement.

“I was just ecstatic,” Windham First Selectman Jean de Smet said. “What a relief.”

De Smet said from the start, she has believed that the state needs to shift its focus on how it deals with its solid waste. “We need to look at the big picture,” she said, which includes recycling.

De Smet said the land in South Windham, which would have been encompassed in the landfill proposal, should be preserved.

State Rep. Susan Johnson, D-Windham also said she was happy with the decision. She co-sponsored a bill with Prague and state Rep. Kevin Ryan, D-Montville to block the CRRA from acquiring the land and building in Franklin.

Johnson said the state’s focus should be on cleaning up brownfields and not creating them. She added that officials should look into recycling the ash into building materials, such as concrete.

Recently, CRRA sent out form letters to all of the other Connecticut towns, asking if they would be interested in hosting a landfill. Apparently there have been no takers.

Posted Aug. 31, 2009

Editor’s note: Reporting by David Hinchey is included in this story.

Related Web site: http://dumptheashdump.com/

Your chance to choose a national PSA on flu prevention

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A postal carrier wearing a face mask during the flu epidemic of 1918. Photo credit, National Archives and Records Administration

The producer of the winning video gets a $2,500 cash award, and the winning PSA will be broadcast on national television.

Voting began on Saturday, Aug. 29 and continues through 11:59 p.m. Eastern time, Wednesday, Sept.16.

An invitation by U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to create a public service announcement to raise awareness about flu prevention drew more than 240 videos, which were uploaded on YouTube.

All videos were reviewed to make sure they met the criteria for the message content and length.

PSA from the flu pandemic of 1918 by cartoonist Clifford T. Berryman. (Courtesy of the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services. For more images, visit the Website at http://1918.pandemicflu.gov/documents_media/02.htm )

More than 100 videos made the first cut and went on to a  review by a panel of experts, who settled on 10 finalists.

And now it is the public’s turn to vote for the one they think is best.

“Keep in mind, as you watch the PSAs, that we need to reach as many people as we can.  We are entering the fall flu season, and the 2009 H1N1 flu could impact all of us, so getting the message out on how we can best avoid the flu is critical. Think young and old; students and mothers; and those most vulnerable – then tell us which video delivers the flu prevention message best,” Sebelius said.

For information on the contest and how to vote, visit the site at www.flu.gov.

The site also offers a wide range of seasonal flu and H1N1 (swine) flu information for parents, schools, municipal governments, and community groups, which is constantly updated. You can also sign up for regular updates

And check back after Sept. 16 to find out who won the PSA contest.

Posted Aug. 31, 2009

One of the entries. I believe you can vote once a day until the contest closes.  (Note: when visiting the Website, be sure to click on the right arrow on the view-box to see the 10^th video entry.)

Science is REALLY great fun, amazing, cool… and right in our backyard

Rosie engrossed in an experiment at the UConn labs. Photos by Ruth Alumbaugh.

In a rare opportunity offered through Dr. Yu Lei, we had a chance to have a morning tour through his lab in July of this year.  Dr. Lei is a highly respected scientist who has garnered literally millions of dollars for research at the University of Connecticut.  With his lab assistants, we had a golden opportunity to have a visit that afforded us with some awesome hands-on experiences.

As we toured the lab, we could really catch the spirit of excitement of Dr. Lei and his colleagues.  They were enthused about what they were showing us, whether it was scientific equipment, nanotechnology, fluorescence or the special places where they do their experiments.

It looks like UConn really has a great research program with all the technology they are able to use. They are distracting strands of DNA from places that are so small you need a computer screen and special microscopes to see them!

Dr. Yu Lei (far right) and his lab assistants took us on a tour of their lab at UConn (center L-R: Ruth, Rosie, Jon, Jonathan) Photo courtesy of the Alumbaughs.

The kids got to wear lab coats and make Petri dishes of agar with which to do their experiments. I think Rosie could have stayed there all day and done experiments. It was hard to tear her away from all the tubes and the equipment that she was given the opportunity to use!

It was a joy to see people at work who really love what they do and who feel a sense of enthusiasm for their tasks.  I think that this is definitely an attitude that is “caught” rather than “taught.”

As the programs at UConn expand, others will hopefully be afforded the opportunity that we have had this past month.  It was truly a privilege to be invited to learn more about the research that Dr. Lei and his colleagues are doing. The pictures will “tell” you a lot about what we did.

A field trip to UConn

By Rosie Alumbaugh

I had a special opportunity at UConn to go to a lab and take a tour.  Now I’m going to tell you about what I did there.

Rosie learning about "growing" bacteria (beside her is her brother Jonathan and a lab assistant). Photo by Ruth Alumbaugh.

We (my family and I) walked into the building where we were supposed to meet our friend Yu Lei.  He met us in the lab because he was running a little late.  We also met a grad student named Liang and another grad student looking for a job and her name was Ashley.

Well, we first took a tour of the lab where Yu Lei works.  It was so amazing that I really can’t explain it.

We got to see a freezer that makes things 80 below freezing Fahrenheit!  It was really cold!

Next, he showed us how he makes bacteria and how he makes gel, to put the gel onto make bacteria and that’s not all.  I got to make the gel and bacteria, put on the lab coat, and every thing! It was fun and educational.

Trip to the lab

By Jonathan Alumbaugh

We leave the house early (for a Friday, that is) and hop in the car and head for the University of Connecticut in Storrs. We get to the building where our friend, Yu Lei, works. Dad drops us off at the door and heads for the faculty parking place because Yu Lei lent us his parking pass on Thursday night. We wait outside Yu Lei’s building, and dad finally gets here, so we go inside.

Dr. Yu Lei at the University of Connecticut. Photo by Ruth Alumbaugh.

We find his room, but he’s not there, yet. So, we talk to a couple of his associates, Ashley and Liang. They’re both really nice people.

Ashley tells us that she spins nano fibers and what the medical uses are for it, and Liang tells us that he works with Yu Lei and what he does with him.

He tells us about how they grow “colonies” of germs on a jelly-like substance called agar. He shows us a sample, and the jelly stuff looks kind of yellow like ginger ale, and the colonies are like little white dots on it.

He said that it ate the agar because of the nutrients in it.

He also told us what they used the colonies for. The colonies are actually e. coli colonies that have been genetically modified so that they aren’t harmful.

Then Yu Lei showed up and he told us about the stuff around us, gave us a tour about what we would be doing and stuff like that.

There was a DNA copier, a fridge that had temperatures of -80 Fahrenheit, and a 7000x microscope.

At this point, we were given a lab coat and rubber gloves so we could do some experiments.  One of the experiments gave us an opportunity to pour some of the agar substance into a Petri dish. We then we put the colonies into another liquid that it ate. We grew some colonies after the substances were allowed to mix together in a special piece of machinery.

Jonathan learns how to safely handle equipment in a lab. Photo by Ruth Alumbaugh.

Another experiment we did was with fluorescence.

Dr. Lei put a liquid on a slide and then put it under an Ultraviolet (UV) light. We could see his name written on the slide; it looked sparkly blue, kind of like the stars at night.

In addition, we went to another lab where Ashley showed us how she spun nanofibers. It was pretty neat! The machine she was using used 30,000 volts of power and the current ran through the nanofiber as it was being strung.

We could see the sample up close and personal with the high-powered microscope. It looked like a really dense spider web.

At the conclusion of our visit, we turned in our lab coats, donned our street clothes, and headed to the University of Connecticut Dairy Bar. There, I had my favorite flavor ice cream to celebrate the success of all of my experiments (!). My favorite flavor is the Husky Tracks; it has peanut butter cups, vanilla ice cream and chocolate in it. It was a perfect ending to a great field trip!

Posted Aug. 30, 2009

Mother still hopes to find daughter's killer

Anne Caro, a mother of two who was found strangled to death in her Mansfield home on Route 32 on Aug. 28, 2005.

Even though it has been four years since the death of her daughter, Alice Caro said she will not give up trying to find the person who murdered the single mother of two.

“I can’t keep living with myself if I don’t pursue this,” said Caro, a Cheshire resident.

Caro said she would not stop calling police and asking questions until the person who killed her daughter is “brought to justice.”

She calls police monthly to see if there are any updates pertaining to the case. “If anyone knew my daughter, they knew she was a persistent, hard-working woman,” said Caro. “They know she would never give up on trying to find out who did this.”

Anne Caro had just turned 37 when she was found unconscious in her 506 Stafford Road home in Mansfield at 9 p.m. Aug. 28, 2005.

In the days following her death, a spokesman from the Connecticut Chief Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed Anne Caro died from asphyxia by strangulation.

Support on Facebook

Her mother is not the only one who remembers Anne Caro as the dedicated mother and keeper of three jobs.

Friends and other family members keep contact with one another through a Facebook group entitled “Support Catching Anne Caro’s Killer.”

The group – which includes family and friends of Caro’s – is a central location for those who still miss her.

Alice Caro said the group first formed about six months ago. There are now 210 members in the group.

According to Alice Caro, she is not the only one who wants closure.

“I wish the investigation would lead to find the person who killed her,” she said. “There’s still a lot of angry people in Mansfield.”

“There’s a murderer walking around,” she said.

Investigation ongoing

State Police spokesman Lt. J. Paul Vance says the case is far from being closed. “It’s still an active criminal investigation,” he said.

According to Vance, detectives and other law enforcement officials have continued following leads and working to crack the case.

“Investigations are like constructing a puzzle,” said Vance.

He said the case would remain open and active until officials have completely run out of information to follow up on.

DNA may help

Alice Caro said she had hoped her daughter’s murderer would be caught, now that all convicts in the state must provide DNA samples.

In 2008, Gov. M. Jodi Rell pushed legislators to approve a law requiring convicts sentenced to prison for a felony or serious misdemeanor to submit a DNA sample.

Earlier this month, state officials infused nearly $2 million of federal funding into the collection of those samples. [See story: Funds for DNA testing may solve cold cases published in Mansfield Today on Aug. 23, 2009 ]

“It gives me a little hope,” said Caro.

For Caro, the wait goes by slowly and she and other family members are still recovering from the tragic loss.

“Hopefully, at some point, somebody will remember some little detail that is important,” she said.

Posted Aug. 28, 2009

Willimantic property owner hit with $28,980 fine

In a 14-page written decision on a hearing conducted in Windham Superior Court, concerning damages to the Town of Windham, John and Eugene Arsenault have been hit with $28,980 in fines.

In 2008, Director of Code Enforcement, Matthew Vertefeuille and Building Official Don Shultz arrested John and Eugene Arsenault for tearing down a house, without permits, which was owned by Eugene Arsenault at 358 Jackson Street in Willimantic.

The Arsenaults also were charged with zoning violations stemming from a non-permitted junkyard on site, as well as creating a blighted property.

In a civil trial on July 23 in Windham Superior court, the Arsenaults were found to be responsible for costs to the Town of Windham of approximately $7,880.

Eugene Arsenault was fined $20,100 for past violations and ordered to pay the town its fees and costs by Oct. 20, 2009.

Eugene Arsenault is enjoined from operating a junkyard, and must remove all junk by Sept. 30, 2009.

A fine of $100 a day will be imposed for each day of continued violation.

John Arsenault was fined $1,000 which he must pay by Oct. 20, 2009.

“Code Enforcement is being taken very seriously,” Vertefeuille said in an Aug. 27, 2009 press release. “The Arsenaults’ case should demonstrate to residents of Windham/Willimantic that we will pursue violators and seek resolution.”

“The property owner in this case endangered himself, as well as innocent residents, by tearing down his house and creating an asbestos mess so big that Connecticut’s Department of Environmental Protection had to take over the site as an emergency environmental cleanup,” he added.

The site has been tested by the Connecticut Department of Public Health and found no remaining asbestos.

Windham hired Vertefeuille and Reynaldo Soto in February of 2008 to deal with the town’s issues of blight, as well as housing inspections and zoning inspections.

“We have been lucky to resolve so many cases with just a letter or a phone call,” said Vertefeuille. “People have been very cooperative. There are only a handful of offenders who we need to take to another level of enforcement. We will continue to plug away at resolving the quality of life issues we find. These issues hurt everyone. Property values are affected and this has a direct effect on everyone.”

Post Aug. 28, 2009

Two local men win $3 million lottery

Two men – Jason Gawitt of Coventry and Matthew Dogali of Shelton – claimed the first of four $3 million top prizes in the instant ticket game “$3,000,000 Platinum Spectacular.”

Gawitt and Dogali arrived at lottery headquarters in Rocky Hill with their families to validate their ticket and claim their prize.

“$3,000,000 Platinum Spectacular’s” $3 million top prize can be paid as a 20-year annuity or in the cash lump sum equivalent.

The two friends elected the cash lump sum prize, each receiving a check for $607,325 (after taxes).

CT Lottery’s “$3,000,000 Platinum Spectacular” offers the biggest top prize in the CT Lottery’s instant game history.

Three more top prizes of $3,000,000 and 9 prizes of $100,000 remain in the game.

Odds of winning a prize in “$3,000,000 Platinum Spectacular” are 1 in 3.56.

Instant game probability is based on number of tickets available for a game rather than on individual purchases.

The lucky top prize winning ticket was sold at West Farm’s Mini Mart located at 625 Hartford Road in New Britain. West Farm’s Mini Mart will receive a check for $30,000 from the CT Lottery for selling the ticket.

For more information, visit the CT Lottery web site at www.ctlottery.org.

Traffic jams expected as UConn students return

Watch out, Storrs.

Incoming freshmen and returning students at the University of Connecticut will be clogging roadways and unloading their belongings this weekend.

Beginning at 7 a.m. on Friday morning, new Huskies will move into their residence halls and will fill any parking spaces available in the area surrounding UConn.

Returning students are expected to move in on Saturday and Sunday.

University police said residents and other motorists in the area should expect increased volumes of traffic due to the weekend-long move-in.

“During these times, motorists in the Storrs area can expect an increase in traffic and traffic delays,” states a release from UConn Police. “Motorists are advised to consider using alternate routes during these times to avoid  these delays.”

UConn Police Capt. Craig Rich said he expects an easy transition this weekend for move-in because multiple groups and departments are working together.

“We obviously have a plan,” said Rich. “We’ve been doing this a lot of years.”

Rich said UConn’s department of residential life and student activity officials will also be working to welcome freshmen and returning students throughout the weekend.

In addition to UConn Police patrolling campus on foot, atop mountain bikes and with motorcycles, State Police from Troop C in Tolland will help control traffic off-campus.

Rich said state police will monitor traffic at the main entrances to Storrs, including the intersection of routes 44 and 195 – the area known locally as Four Corners.

“We’ll be monitoring traffic,” he said. “And when it seems appropriate, we’ll be taking over intersections.”

If police – whether it be state police or UConn police – “take over” intersections, they will manually control lights and keep traffic flowing at a smooth pace, said Rich.

According to Rich, university officials have staggered move-in times for UConn students in order to alleviate any problems caused by too many cars in the immediate area.

Mansfield residents and other local residents are encouraged to avoid driving through the campus area this weekend and plan to use alternate routes.

Posted Aug. 27, 2009